The Singer Not the Song (1961)

In a small Mexican town, a Catholic priest and a local bandit clash, but the brave priest ultimately wins the outlaw's respect.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker (as Roy Baker)

Writers:

Audrey Erskine-Lindop (novel) (as Audrey Erskine Lindop), Nigel Balchin (screenplay)

Stars:

Dirk Bogarde, John Mills, Mylène Demongeot

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dirk Bogarde	...	Anacleto Comachi
John Mills	...	Father Michael Keogh
Mylène Demongeot	...	Locha de Cortinez
Laurence Naismith	...	Old Uncle
John Bentley	...	Police Captain
Leslie French	...	Father Gomez
Eric Pohlmann	...	Presidente
Norman Florence	...	Vito (as Nyall Florenz)
Roger Delgado	...	Pedro de Cortinez
Philip Gilbert	...	Phil Brown
Selma Vaz Dias	...	Chela
Laurence Payne	...	Pablo
Jacqueline Evans	...	Dona Marian
Lee Montague	...	Pepe
Serafina Di Leo	...	Jasefa

Storyline

During the 1950s, in a small isolated Mexican village, the local Roman Catholic priest, Father Gomez, is an older man with a broken spirit. During his tenure in the village of Quantano, he fought hard to keep his flock of parishioners, in spite of threats and intimidation from the part of local bandit Anacleto Comachi and his men. The atheistic bandit has imposed his tyrannical rule over the region for many years. The local Police cannot find any witnesses to come forward and testify to any wrongdoing from the part of Anacleto. Therefore, they cannot charge him or arrest him. The Catholic Church replaces Father Gomez with a younger, more energetic priest, Father Keogh from Ireland. Before departing the village, Father Gomez warns Father Keogh of the dangers of defying Anacleto Comachi's authority. But Father Keogh openly defies the bandit and administers his daily priestly duties at the village church. He even manages to persuade some of the villagers to start attending church again. ...

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Plot Keywords:

priest | catholic priest | 1950s | outlaw | murder | 

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Taglines:

A New and Powerfully Different Kind of Motion Picture Story...

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le cavalier noir

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Rank Organisation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mylène said in her memoirs that the director Roy Baker did not help her at all during the shooting of this movie.

User Reviews

Dirk Bogarde's own opinion of this film

Bogarde himself described this film as "beyond camp". Trying to have a serious discussion about camp is futile. I first saw it as a teenager and, at the time, thought all that emotion at the end rather an impressive bit of movie drama . Alas, how maturity has tarnished my childhood tolerance for "artistic licence". Mexican peasants speaking in perfect RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) English didn't bother me at all back then. The leather-fetishist attire of the villain Anacleto, went entirely unnoticed by my teeny-bopper eyes. Back then I had no idea that Bogarde was gay and I'm sure that there was no mention of homosexuality in the novel on which the film was based. Now that everyone knows his secrets, there are bound to be some who "read between the lines", stuff that isn't and was never there in the first place. Sure he is very "camp" himself in the film but what do you expect when the costumier puts him in something so outrageously over-the-top. I thought John Mills did the best he could with a bad screenplay and was rather good at times. Even he couldn't make that melodramatic ending convincing however - no one could.